The CU Prototype Stage, also known as the Concept Unification Prototype Stage, was a test stage made to replace The Rock-afire Explosion 3-Stages with the Pizza Time Players. This used a house theme for the stage, similar to that of the Rocker Stage and C-Stage.
Rock-afire shows would ultimately be replaced with Concept Unification, creating Munch's Make Believe Band. This band retained desirable elements from The Rock-afire Explosion that the company wanted to keep. These included Fatz Geronimo's strong presence on center stage, Mitzi Mozzarella's appeal to young girls, and the general "band" format.
History[]
During the late 1980s, it was decided by ShowBiz Pizza Time, Inc. to convert Chuck E. Cheese's, and ShowBiz Pizza Place into one single entity. And with relations with Creative Engineering rapidly deteriorating, and Aaron Fetcher refusing to give up the rights for The Rock-afire Explosion to SPT. It was decided to convert all the Rock-afire Explosion characters into Chuck E. Cheese characters. This process was called Concept Unification.
The CU Prototype Stage was created as one of the potential ideas of how The Rock-afire Explosion could be replaced. The stage features all five main members of the Pizza Time Players (as well as the Singing Flowers) all retaining their designs with little to no changes. Ultimately however, the stage was rejected by corporate, with it eventually being reworked into the 3-Stage, which took aspects from both the Pizza Time Players and The Rock-afire Explosion, and created Munch's Make Believe Band.
For a while it was thought that this stage was never actually put in any location outside of Corporate. Until footage was uncovered and uploaded on YouTube in 2024 from the Montfort, Texas location. The footage is dated as being from May 1990.
Designed by Jul Kamen, the Concept Unification Prototype Stage consolidated the three stages from The Rock-afire Explosion into just two stages, merging center stage and stage right into a single large stage. The stage was designed to appear like the interior of a house, which was similar to the "house" theme at existing Chuck E. Cheese stages such as the Rocker Stage and the C-Stage. Pasqually was put on Left Stage, while Helen Henny, Chuck E. Cheese, and Jasper were put on Right Stage. Mr. Munch was put inside a red barrel (originally a trash bin) next to Pasqually. Also, Mr. Munch was the most unique characters in the show, in that five different animatronics would allow him to travel to and from the two stages during showtapes. Center Stage also had a flower pot with the Singing Flowers in them. The right stage was apparently meant to be for a live stage
It is unknown what happened to the bots after the stage was rejected, but it's most likely they were trashed. CEC Entertainment and ShowBiz Pizza are notorious for destroying their animatronics when they are no longer needed.
Character Conversion[]
In this stage design, most of the Chuck E. Cheese characters were placed on different animatronic bots, which would later be done for Munch's Make Believe Band during Concept Unification.
| Rock-afire Character | Chuck E. Cheese Character |
|---|---|
| Looney Bird | Mr. Munch |
| Billy Bob | N/A |
| Mitzi Mozzarella | Chuck E. Cheese |
| Beach Bear | Jasper T. Jowls |
| Fatz Geronimo | Pasqually |
| Dook LaRue | Helen Henny |
| Rolfe DeWolfe | N/A |
| Earl Schmerle | N/A |
| Sun | Mr. Munch |
| Moon | Mr. Munch |
| Antioch | Mr. Munch |
| Choo-Choo | Mr. Munch |
Concept Art[]
Stage Gallery[]
|
|---|
| Cyberamic Stages |
| Current Stages |
 2-Stage  1-Stage |
| Retired Stages |
 Cyberamic Portrait Stage  Balcony Stage  Chuck E.'s House  Chuck E.'s House Facade  Cyberamic Portrait/Balcony  Lake Forest Stage  Porch Chuck E.'s House Facade  Road Stage  2/3-Stage  Mini Unit 1-Stage  Staten Island 1-Stage  1/2-Stage  Turntable 1-Stage  Guatemala City 2-Stage  Cyberamic 3-Stage |
| CU Stages |
| Current Stages |
 3-Stage |
| Current Test Stages |
 CU 1-Stage  1/3-Stage |
| Retired Stages |
 CU Prototype Stage  Playroom 3-Stage  Hollywood 3-Stage  Winter 3-Stage  CU 2-Stage |
| Studio C Stages |
| Current Stages |
 Studio C (1997)  Studio C 2000  Small-Town Studio C  Circles of Light |
| Current Test Stages |
 Small-Town Studio C Gamma  Studio C 2000/Small-Town  Mini Unit Studio C (1997)  Circles of Light Wall  Circles of Light Live Stage  Circles of Light Wall Live Stage |
| Retired Stages |
 Studio C GM Convention  Studio C (1997) 3-Stage  Studio C 2000 Prototype  Single-Screen Studio C 2000  Studio C (1997)/Prototype  Small-Town Prototype  Star Stage  Galaxy Stage  Studio C 2000 3-Stage |
| Live Stages |
| Current Stages |
 Chuck E. Live Stage |
| Current Legacy Stages |
 2-Stage Live Stage  Studio C 2000 Live Stage  1-Stage Live Stage  CU 1-Stage Live Stage  3-Stage Live Stage |
| Retired Stages |
 Chuck E. Live Stage Prototype |
| Other Stages |
| Retired Stages |
 Portrait Stage  Family Album  Hot Fudge  The AAM |